Michael J. Brown Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I was recently given a 3D Connexion Space Explorer 3D mouse ($299 retail - http://www.3dconnexion.com/3dmouse/spaceexplorer.php) at no cost , but have avoided even hooking it up yet. I've had it for several months now, but due to my workload, I can't seem to find time to try it out and sample the learning curve. Furthermore, I'm just rather suspect that, for architectural CGI work, it may be overkill and counter productive. Has anybody here used one of these (or similar model) before? Do you use one now? What are some peoples thoughts on the ease of use and usefullness in general of these 3D space navigational devices? I'd like to hear from people who have actually used one before. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louis.cho Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I have a Space Navigator but I find it quite hard to use it efficiently. Not that it's not a good tool, the quality of it is very impressive and it's works very well in big scenes but I always have the old habbit to use my keyboard first. Maybe it due to the lack of shortcut on the device itself and that its not a problem on highers models. I should bring it to work now and force me to work with it. Maybe it's just that I didn't found the knick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horhe Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I never used one so dont read this post.... ....but if I wanted to I would probably need to have a third hand. Nothing will replace shortcuts (as Louis pointed out). It probably would come in handy with VR walktroughs and navigation though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlAhearne Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 My work colleague has used one, and it works really well in things like Google Earth, Live Maps, Navisworks, 3DS Max. Can really speed things up, but as said before, keyboard shortcuts are still needed, so it's not always quicker. It doesn't seem to work very well in CAD software; Autodesk Architecture 2008 to be more exact. It kind of works, and spins things around, but not in a very controlable way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 I have one sat on my desk at the side of my keyboard I never use it either. It is just not as fast at navigating around screen than using your hotkeys I feel. It is well made yes and i can see the positives of using one eg. rsi. but you don't seem to have as much control as you would like when rotating objects etc. Old habits die hard I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Moir Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 I use mine to mood-light the far corner of my desk in blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Jeff Mottle Posted April 1, 2008 Administrators Share Posted April 1, 2008 http://www.cgarchitect.com/news/Reviews/Review060_1.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louis.cho Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 I use mine to mood-light the far corner of my desk in blue. haha, yup it's not all that cash for nothing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario Pende Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 ....but if I wanted to I would probably need to have a third hand. Nothing will replace shortcuts Agree! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malevy Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 I have the 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator. I would have to say it was out of the box for about an hour and back in it goes and up on ebay. It was way too hard to navigate. I feel for myself its faster with mouse / keyboard but if you have the time to learn how to use it then it might be ok. It almost went flying out my window because it was frustrating me so much.. Someone had a few brand new ones on ebay really cheap like $30.00 so i don't feel to bad about wasting the money.. http://www.cgarchitect.com/news/Reviews/Review060_1.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyca Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 I also have one space navigator since 3-4 months, and i confirm the keyboard shortcuts are faster, a strange thing in max and autocad is that when i use middle mouse click + option to turn around the screen is more fluid than using the 3D connexion. The only situation where you win some productivity is the case when you work on a laptop and have to use the Trackpad. 3 button mouse+keyboard is faster ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buchhofer Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 its nice to lay out views, but similar in function to the walkthrough camera for max. my biggest thing i use it for is navigation in virtools, where the viewport controls are horrific if you're working in someone elses messy file its nice to be able to float around a perspective view and not deal with selecting by name Mainly its a toy though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louis.cho Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 If you have some money, the only device I think who worth the to spent a little 100$ is the Vertical Mouse by evoluent. It's a dream to use it! www.evoluent.com the better work device i used! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alias_marks Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Yep, similar to others, I've had a space navigator about a year now and it's collecting dust next to my keyboard (with the exception of every now and then when I need to do some google earth work) The keyborad shortcuts seem to give me the navigational flexibility I need, once I really learned how to use them (using walkthrouh mode and multiple combinations of Shift+Alt+Crtl & LMB+RMB+MMB). Maybe it would be the same with the space navigator, but it's just not apparent enough to switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pablo scapi Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 I do have the space navigator, and it´s usless at all in my workflow, as said above, it makes you swith your left hand between the kayboard and it, so finally you just don´t use it. I tried to send it back the same week i purchased it, i write an email to them, and have no response in 3 days, the second mail i sent with a bunch of questions regarding the devolution policy, i recieve a single line mail that didn´t answer me nothing. Right now i only use it ocasionally to place the cameras in the scene and nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louis.cho Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 If you have some money, the only device I think who worth the to spent a little 100$ is the Vertical Mouse by evoluent. It's a dream to use it! www.evoluent.com the better work device i used! Today I just receive my brand new vertical mouse, i am so happy. Cya mr.Pain!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 I've been preaching the virtue of this device for years but the Nostromo N52 Speed Pad by Belkin is the bomb of specialty input devices. Best $60 I ever spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louis.cho Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 never saw this before but I think Robocop use one of them! since my space navigator, I don't want to buy such device before try it out a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornkn Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 That Evoluent one looks nice. Maybe a replacement for my good, 10+ years old Logitech Marble FX? No pain ever with that Marble FX BTW, I find Space Navigator to be quite useful in SketchUp and Google Earth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pthomas1172 Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 Good for ZBRUSH Sculpting. wait.. wrong forum. No really, thats one and only ARTist app it seemed made for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 I've been preaching the virtue of this device for years but the Nostromo N52 Speed Pad by Belkin is the bomb of specialty input devices. Best $60 I ever spent. Im with Frosty, this thing is tops (and I got it for $35....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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